The AP and Wireless Week are reporting that Verizon customers in Cleveland are complaining of being billed $1.99 by V erizon for Data Services that they didn’t use.

The problem,  originally received attention by the Cleveland Plains Dealer, a local newspaper, when a reader wrote in to complain about the issue.  Soon another 400 area residents echoed the complaint at which point the Verizon spin machine swung into gear.  Four Verizon executives spent 90 minutes at the newspaper’s offices on Monday including Roger Tang, the company’s regional president for Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia who said Verizon is investigating every complaint, because it doesn’t want to “zing” customers on their bills.

I just love their creative vernacular.  “Zing”.  Why not call it what it really is – theft.  If people actually audited their phone bills every month they would be shocked to discover just how many times their bills are inaccurate in favor of their carrier.  In fact every single time I’ve spent the hour it takes to really specifically audit my own bill I’ve found errors that far exceed $1.99.

This isn’t a case of simple mistakes much as the carriers would like us to believe.  It is a case of theft pure and simple.  These companies add millions and probably even tens of millions in additional revenue to their bottom lines ever year as the result of exactly this sort of thing.  How long, do you suppose, this was going on before someone noticed that they were being billed for a service that they didn’t subscribe to and didn’t use.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  How many of us know which “cost recovery” surcharges are legal and applicable to our bills?  Anyone?  The simple fact of the matter is that carriers can pretty much steal from all of us with impunity and when someone finally wises up and makes a stink they apologize for accidentally “zinging” us and then they rename the now exposed rip-off something else like Universal Cost Recovery Surcharge (recovery from what?  the taxes that they are supposed to pay and which they are levying back onto their customers?) and add another $1.00 to the number and make off with even more of our coin.

Part of the problem with the US these days is the fact that corporations are running roughshod over consumers and the very body that is supposed to be looking out for us, from the President and on to the Senate and Congress are so deep in the pocket of these companies that they may as well simply be on the payroll.

Every day I see a new abuse by a big company and it makes me think that the only way this country will ever get back on its feet is if someone pulls a “fight club” on big business.

Neill Blomkamp who previously directed Halo and Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings fame are behind the massively promoted new movie District Nine which opens today nationwide. I’m assuming most readers of this blog are Sci-fi fans who plan on eventually seeing this new film.

What you might not know is that Blomkamp actually created a short film predecessor to District 9 called Alive in Joberg that has been on YouTube for about three years. Here it is in case you missed it:

You can also catch an interview with Blomkamp and D9’s star Copley here and one of the trailers for the movie here.

If you’ve seen the film please let us know what you think in the comments. Thanks.

Recently I’ve noticed something with physicians and it has begun to bother me a lot.  They don’t seem to listen to their patients anymore.  Granted, it is possible that I’ve just been unlucky with the doctors I have seen recently but it seems odd that in the past 24 months every single doctor I’ve visited save one – and that one happened to be a personal friend – have all provided what I would consider to be very poor care principally because they don’t seem to listen to what I’m telling them.

I’m wondering if this problem is unique to me or if other physicians are likewise treating patients the way I’ve been treated.  Anyone have a “doctor didn’t listen” experience they’d like to share?

Frankly I find the fact that a doctor wouldn’t listen to me or would out and out disregard what I was telling them out of hand because what I was describing was either unfamiliar or uncommon or else was something that caused them to come to an erroneous conclusion before they’d even done diagnostic tests.

In my case I had one doctor tell me that was I was experiencing was “impossible” another looked at an image I had taken of a microscopic specimen and said “I don’t know what that is but this is what is wrong with you”, while a third actually refused to look at images I brought with me even though the entire reason for the visit was so he could evaluate the images I had brought with me after he’d declined to evaluate them over email telling me that I needed to bring them in for an office visit if I wanted them evaluated.

Frankly each and every one of these “medical professionals” could have used a good dose of listening 101 in their training. Or at least a good listening refresher course.

I mean how arrogant is it for a doctor to tell someone – and particularly someone that was a professional athlete and thus has spent the better part of his life keenly focused on his body, as well as someone that has a biology and biochemistry plus exercise physiology background that they can’t possibly be experiencing what it is that they’re complaining of.

I mean, I’ve only been driving around in my body for the last 41 years, but hey – Dr “I don’t listen to patients” can look at me for fifteen seconds and without performing a single one of the recommended diagnostic tests for my complaint can tell me that I am imagining things.

Except of course that I wasn’t and when I finally decided to trouble my friend for care – he (who happens to be the only professional I visited that DESERVES to be called a doctor) simply did the diagnostic tests recommended for my complaint and found out that yes- I was correct.

This got me thinking – if I’d been less certain of what was ailing me – or if I hadn’t had my own very high quality microscope and the skill to use it – or if I hadn’t persisted seeing different doctors for more than 18 months, and finally if I hadn’t ultimately prevailed upon my friend to look at me and listen to my complaint – just how long would it have taken me to get an accurate diagnosis and thus proper treatment?  2 more years?  4?  Never?  (or until perhaps my problem because life threatening and thus demanded that a truly skilled physician be brought in to figure out what was wrong?)

So what about other people with less knowledge or fewer resources?  Judging from my experience the tremendous arrogance and ego of many physicians is resulting in a lot of people simply not getting the treatment they need because the doctors they are seeing aren’t even doing the job for which they’re being paid.

Since when did it become standard practice for a doctor to ask you what was wrong and then decide that you weren’t really sick after all?

I have an acquaintance that was just diagnosed with Aggressive Stage 4 Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma.  Okay, this might be an uncommon cancer and it might be one that attacked so savagely and so suddenly that it basically riddled his body with cancer overnight – but explain this…The guy has been living with HIV/AIDS for 20 years.  He’s also an Iraq 1 vet and he has recently had two surgeries for a detached retina.  In other words he’s been seen by physicians countless times in the least year.  He’s had blood work done literally dozens of times.  He’d been complaining of pain, fatigue, loss of appetite, and more regularly for the past few months but it wasn’t until he ended up in the emergency room nearly dead from anemia that they finally figured out that he had cancer.

Do you really believe that this cancer just suddenly cropped up?  Or did his doctors fail to look for it because they were making assumptions about his condition based upon his other illnesses?

Seriously, folks, this kind of thing is a big wake up call.  if a doctor won’t listen to us when we describe what ails us and they wish to suggest a course of treatment that is based upon their “considered opinion” one that was reached without performing even the most basic diagnostic tests – this is a problem.

I’ve finally learned that believing a doctor who doesn’t show me the courtesy of believing me first is a big mistake.  While I’ll never know if any of my “non-listening doctors” actually listened to their practice administrators when they went over my complaints with them I do know one thing -  if a doctor won’t do me the courtesy of listening to why I’m there in the first place I hardly think I owe them the money they’re expecting for the service that they chose not to provide.

It’s simple, really.  Listen up – do the right tests and then tell me what’s wrong and I’ll gladly pay you – but if you think for one second that you can take that arrogant “I know better because I’m a medical professional” approach with me, you’re in for a surprise; you don’t take my word for what ails me – why should I take your word that you have a clue what you’re talking about?

And if you’re reading this, Doctors Scheer, Katona, or Carsico – I’ve got a chart to send you and I’ll be expecting my refund and an apology in your responses.

Help Me Bring Smiles to these Faces

If you’re anything like me you spend a lot of time traveling for work.  Among other things, this means a lot of nights away from home in hotel rooms.  I’ll bet I’m not the only one whom, as a result of all these hotel-nights, has managed to accumulate quite a supply of personally-sized soaps, shampoos, lotions, conditioners, etc.

In fact many fellow travelers probably have a drawer or a basket under a sink someplace that contains many dozens of these aforementioned supplies.  Perhaps you even thoughtfully put a sampling of these out as a courtesy to house-guests from time to time.  I know I have.

Or really, I should say “used to”.

About three years ago it was brought to my attention by my girlfriend’s family that all these individually wrapped personal care products were perfect for a group of people that needed them far more than either I or my house-guests; underprivileged kids in developing countries all over the world.

When this came up it occurred to me that what for me amounted to a sacrifice of a totally inconsequential nature had the potential to be a gift with great – dare I even say profound significance for others.

In my case the products I was bringing home ended up being carried to Thailand where they were given to an orphanage in a small town in the southern part of Thailand.  To you and I these personal care products are at most a trivial convenience – we don’t experience any direct cost associated with the acquisition or use of these products and aside from making you look like the thoughtful host when your in-laws visit they mainly just take up space under a sink or in a drawer someplace, most likely gathering dust and ultimately destined for the rubbish bin when you do a spring cleaning or need to reclaim their space for something of greater tangible value.

Conversely, to the kids in the orphanage – and in every other place on the planet where there are kids that do not, on a daily basis, have access to things we take for granted – like soap, a toothbrush, shampoo or even a proper bath towel- these items can bring far more than cleaner teeth and skin.

I don’t see how anyone could consider this and not be impacted by the idea that something so basic could be so important.

When I was told that my “care package” had been delivered and that for these kids, many of whom have never had a birthday present or a single item of new clothing or really anything at all that they could consider their own, it was not only a source of improved hygiene, but much more important in my mind, a source of happiness, and a means to some improved self esteem, it became a mission for me to increase my impact in this simple but positive way – to take this same care package idea and extend it beyond a single orphanage and expand it to include many more kids in many more places.

You see, having a little pride in oneself, experiencing  the transformation from being unkempt to smelling nice and having clean teeth is something that all humans from all cultures can understand.  Everyone has experienced the difference in mental climate a hot shower and a warm bed can provide even on the worst day.

For me, the idea that some of these kids – through no fault of their own – have simply never had even a glimmer of these simple pleasures affects me deeply.  It also motivates me that it is possible through my own small efforts that one child at a time, I can actually make a difference.

These days I’m a bit more aggressive in my efforts to collect the individual soaps and shampoos and other supplies that the hotels I stay at provide for me.  For my own use I either bring my own products or at most open and reuse a single soap during my travel.  I make sure to pack up whatever products are provided each day so that I get a fresh supply each time my room is made up and I frequently ask the housekeeper for additional product.

When I tell them why I want extra stuff they all, without exception, are only too happy to load me up with whatever I can fit in my bag.  Hotel management might not like this practice too much, but for what they charge per night in a decent hotel they can afford a few cents extra so I can bring smiles to a few more faces.

Anyway, this got me thinking – if I could have the impact that I do all by myself, what would happen if I enlisted the efforts of my fellow tech-industry travelers?  That’s the real point of this post.  I want your help.

You don’t have to be as aggressive as I am about it, but if you like the idea of happy smiling kids – of providing something to the underprivileged at no real cost to you and if you want to quietly feel good about something you’re doing every time you’re on the road here’s what you can do:

Don’t waste the product you get in hotels each day.  Open just one or at most two items – use them until they are gone but be sure to put them away each day when you leave the room so the housekeeper gives you fresh products.  Don’t open these new ones.  Just toss them in your toiletries bag or in their own plastic bag (the small plastic bag in your ice bucket will work nicely).  Bring them home and put them in a box.

When the box is full send it to me and I’ll see that it’s delivered to someone who can really appreciate these products.  In many cases the kids will say prayers on your behalf so if you appreciate those sentiments make sure your name is associated with what you’ve sent.

It’s a bonus if you travel business class and can bring back the small toiletries kits you get for the flight – these have even better items including new toothbrushes, combs, socks, etc. that these children need desperately.

Once you have a shoebox worth of stuff, post it to me as follows:

Soap Suds for Kids c/o Oliver Starr
411 West 5th Street #240
Los Angeles CA 90013

Your help will not only make my day, but much more importantly you’ll make the days of many other small people who need and deserve a good day far more than I do.

Please pass this message on and feel free to repost.  The more folks that participate the more smiles we can create, the more self esteem we can foster and the better we can demonstrate that sometimes the smallest of kindnesses can also have the most profound impact upon all concerned.

As you may know if you’ve read this site previously, I work for the David Allen Company as the Editor of GTDtimes, the community hub for all things GTD.  David, the author of both “Getting Things Done: the art of stress free productivity” and “Making it All Work: winning at the game of work and the business of life” and the rest of the David Allen Company team have been hard at work putting together what may well be one of the most important and valuable conferences you could possibly attend, particularly given the current economic environment and the resulting need to take your productivity and capabilities to a new level not merely to excel but possibly simply to survive.

Here’s why David thinks people should attend the conference in his own words:

Incidentally, much of the original impetus for this even was generated by my late friend Marc Orchant who had spoken passionately of the need for a convocation of GTD practitioners where we could meet, exchange ideas, share stories, educate one another, learn, develop new best practices and help ourselves get closer to that effortless state of truly having a mind like water. I will be there and hope to see many of you there too.

Want Fries with That?

Anyone that has followed the technology scene the past couple of years has probably read about the doings of Sam Sethi.  His reputation as well of the swath of destruction he’s carved through the online mediasphere has been nearly unparalleled.

Beginning with his noisome divorce from Techcrunch UK, subsequently his remarks where he actually threatened a former business associate with grevious bodily injury, followed by his incredible Blognation charade where he basically stole between four and six months of full time blogging efforts by more than a dozen top bloggers (none of whom have ever received so much as a heartfelt apology from Sam, let alone payment as promised in multiple forums).

Recently when speaking with another blogger at an event Sam was asked what the deal was in regards to what happened with Blognation.  It just so happened that a friend of mine was in the vicinity and heard the question and Sam’s response.  He looked the other gentleman in the eye and said:  “It’s simple, really.  I lied.”  Incredible.  The man has no conscience, shows no remorse, cares not what he did to the people who made some big sacrifices on his behalf.  There’s a word for people like this: sociopath.

You’d think that after a debacle like what he did at Blognation he’d have the decency to stay out of tech for a while – like permanently – but some folks have no shame and instead of staying well away from the community that by all rights should treat him like the pariah he truly is, he heard an idea he liked, Twitwall, tried to glom onto it by weaseling his way into someone else’s company, got denied when his track record came to light, and subsequently started a rip-off company, Twitblogs.

This slimy behavior was brought to the fore thanks to Techcrunch but Sam has no shame and he keeps on keeping on.

One of the things that Techcrunch pointed out in its post on the topic is that Twitblogs had no formal privacy policy.  As they pointed out – would you trust your data, let alone your credentials to a guy with Sethi’s track record?  Me neither.

Anyway, earlier today a friend of mine pointed me to Twitblogs new privacy policy:

We will endeavor to write a more comprehensive and complete policy moving forward. Please note that we take the security of your privacy and details very seriously.

Yeah…right…they care about privacy and security so much that they can’t be bothered to borrow some boilerplate that’s been vetted by a company like Yahoo, put their name in there and adhere to that policy at least until Sam gets around to trying to play lawyer and draw up something of his own.

As funny as that is, though, I’ve saved the best for last.  Here’s Sam’s current description of his role  at Twitblogs: 

Sam’s role is to manage the product/features road map and manage our growing list of partners. Twitblogs already has a number of high-level relationships agreements with companies such as Amazon and Sun Microsystems.

It would be interesting to call Sun or Amazon and see if they really have such “high-level” agreements.  Sam said the same thing about Sun and other companies during the blognation disaster and to a one they hadn’t heard of blognation nor Scam Sethi…

This of course begs the question:  what is fact, what is fiction.  From what I can see no one knows. not even Sam…

marc_and_sue_by_scoble

I can hardly believe that it’s been a year since the world lost the irreplacable soul, friend, father, coach, mentor, husband and so much more wrapped up in the being of a man I knew as Marc Orchant.

My time knowing Marc was much too brief – barely two years, yet in that short time he had a profound influence on my life- an influence that carries on without him in so many ways both big and small.

Marc and I had a regular routine consisting of Skype, phone, twitter and email that carried on throughout the say comprising multiple cross threaded dialogs – we were very present in one anothers lives even though I lived in California while Marc had no intention of moving from his beloved New Mexico.

Anyone that knew Marc, even a little, knows that he was the consummate educator/geek.  He loved technology and he loved helping people discover how useful it was for themselves.  He was very much the Zen Master of technology – giving people just enough help that they could sort things out themselves and thus own the knowledge rather than fixing whatever it was and creating another dependent tech user.

Marc had an almost childlike love of things shiny – much like my own – however while one might see me as a person who refuses to grow up Marc’s delight was more sage – wiser somehow – he was wiser in so many ways.

A short time after meeting Marc and beginning to work with him at Foldera I knew that we’d be friends for life.  I had no idea that in this case that meant such a short, short time.

In any case I am rambling incoherently because I’m still not ready to accept that he’s gone and that in this lifetime I won’t have the gift of his friendship, the benefit of his counsel or the pleasure of his intellect in my own life. The world seemed darker the day Marc left us and there are still so many shadows were he used to light things up.

Later today I’ll be flying back from London to LA and hopefully will be able to share a few of my experiences with Marc from the prior couple of years.  If anyone reading this has anything they’d like to share please comment or send me an email (oliver at owstarr dot com) and I will post it for you.  If you are interested in sharing anything productivity or GTD related that originated with or relates to Marc, including content he published previously – I’ll be posting that sort of material to GTDtimes.

Perhaps it’s a bit unsporting to go after Sarah Palin  – the much maligned Hockey Mom from Alaska – particularly given that she and her family are know known in some circles as the Wasilla Hillbillies after the way they behaved during the McCain campaign but the news that continues to come to the fore about this person is simply too much to ignore.

The latest – aside from her drama and theatrics which included “going rogue”, refusing to speak to McCain while on the Straight Talk Express (perhaps renamed the “not talking express” or maybe the “stop touching me express” or possibly even the “i’m a third grader express” though that might be insulting to third graders that appear to know more geography then the cartographically challenged Palin who must be one of those “US Americans that needs maps and doesn’t has maps” but I digress.)

No, the latest is that this woman who clearly hasn’t realized that in the gun fight of world politics she’s armed with one of those clown guns with a flag that unfurls from the muzzle with the word “bang” on it – hardly the requisite hardware when even the most minimally armed adversary she’s going to face is packing a howitzer – this polititard apparently can’t even identify Africa on a map of the world and hasn’t quite learned that the aforementioned is a continent and not a country!

It’s somewhat terrifying to think that the person who would be charged with brokering a peace deal in the middle east can’t even find the area on a map.  It’s even more frightening to contemplate what else she simply doesn’t know.  After all it was hardly like we had unfettered access to her to randomly question her about all manner of topics that might be important to carrying out the duties of the POTUS in a competent manner.

I can only wonder what else the McCain staffers know but which they aren’t yet telling.  It has since come out that in addition to her lack of knowledge about the earth she has a profoundly broken sense of ethics.  During the campaign word leaked to the press that Palin had spent some $150,000 of campaign funds at Neiman Marcus outfitting herself from head to toe in high-fashion designer garb so that she could look exactly like that icon of fashion Tina Fey.

What we didn’t hear (at least until later) was that the sum was actually somewhere between $190,000 and $200,000 and that it included some $40,000 for her secessionist hubby (who doesn’t appear to like the country but seems to like the country’s political donor’s money just fine), and thousands more on outfits for her kids who were apparently sporting brand new Gucci shoes while disrupting business on the erstwhile Straight Talk Express which according to one staffer was at times more like the “Baby Poop Express”. (what’s next  breast feeding while attending to a visiting foreign dignitary? and no, I’m not bashing motherhood or women here – just Palin and her clearly compromised sense of what is reasonable.)

The Gucci shoes in particular when coupled with what the children where apparently dressed like prior to the spree resulted in the creative but apparently appropriate moniker “the Wasilla Hillbillies” which so funny and so on beam that when I heard it what I was drinking literally came out my nose as I snorted in laughter.

From what I understand Palin had to buy and then the campaign staff had to schlep 13 new suitcases to carry all the clothing she purchased from one place to the next during the tour.  Not only is this unfair, ludicrous and irresponsible it also begs the question – if she wasn’t planning on keeping it (as she claimed on national television where she said that after the campaign it would be donated to charity) why would she have spent so much money on suitcases to pack it all around with her?  (and you can bet that she didn’t buy those suitcases at Wal-Mart either.  It wouldn’t surprise me if they came from Louis Vuitton or maybe Tumi.

So has any reporter bothered to track where the clothes went after the bus had pulled into the garage and the sun set on McCains last big battle?

Not that I’ve heard.

What I want to know is if the Gucci shoes the kids are sporting went to a deserving inner-city youth from the projects or if they now sit mud stained and damp in some mudroom in the Governer’s mansion in Alaska?  And what about all the suits she bought her hubby not to mention the tailored pink and beige suits she wore herself?  Did she hang onto them once again breaking her word to the very people she claims to wish to serve?  If not then I’m sure that she should be able to tell us which charity they went to?  After all such publicity would be good for the charity wouldn’t it?

My bet is that those thirteen bags (whatever brand they turn out to be) was delivered to Palin’s residence within a few days (if not a few hours) of her arrival back home and that their contents are now safely ensconced in the WB’s newly expanded clothes closets.

What makes this whole clothing issue all that much worse (and far more worrisome from the perspective of her future political ambitions) is that again according to McCain staff this spree was “one step shy of stealing”.

According to the unnamed source a wealthy McCain supporter had given Palin a credit card to use for the purpose of purchasing 3 suits for the Republican National Convention.  The staffer reports that this was the extent of the permission that Palin was given and that upon seeing the receipts for the nearly $200,000 in charges the donor was shocked beyond words.

As a country that is reeling from the collective shocks that commenced with the subprime mortgage crises and which have now extended to the financial markets, the banking system, the automotive industry and soon to the credit card companies too – a country saddled with a nearly incomprehensible national debt and a budget deficit that is hard to imagine let alone manage, it hardly demonstrates the sort of restraint or fiscal responsibility that we need in a leader when the first chance she gets she basically steals from a campaign contributor and goes off on a buying extravaganza like an oil-rich third world dictator at a Russian arms bazaar.

Seriously.

All humor aside though, this is very troubling.  There are still some people – let’s call them “right wing nut jobs” that haven’t realized that this woman is not only stupid she is dangerously unhinged.  She is clearly corrupt without apology, has the ethics of a Bush-Rice hybrid, and the IQ of Dan Qualye with a head injury. It is obvious that rules are something that only apply to other people and that the only laws that you break and the ones where you got caught breaking them.  She appears to believe that power is to be used for personal gain and that being elected to a high station gives one certain inalienable rights to mistreat other people and to use that power expressly for personal gain (or worse, personal and/or vindictive satisfaction) as well as for enforcing her personal religous doctrine (which is a far cry from sane let alone reasonable) upon anyone and everyone – and God forbid she (or her whack job preacher decide that you’re a witch which could literally mean your life is in jeopardy.

All I can say is thank God McCain lost.  I said it before but it was worth saying again.  Now let’s just hope that people don’t forget the bullshit she pulled this time around when 2012 comes up.  Provided that we’re all still here and that neither a pole shift nor the crossing of Nibiru cause a global cataclysm that renders all elections superfluous because you can count on her trotting out that bs folksy enunciation and that false-as-hell wink because the truth is that Palin is just dumb enough to believe that she’s got the people fooled.

Please, oh, please don’t let’s prove her right.

This just hit my in box from the Forbes/Adify Blog Advertising Network:

I am writing to you with some urgency because our partners at Adify have proposed a short-term campaign for us to run across the Forbes.com Business & Finance Blog Network.
The campaign is very unique in that it is political in nature and may potentially be objectionable to some readers.  We ask that you please take the time to consider whether  you’d like this advertisement to run on your site. It is up to you to decide whether you will accept this campaign.
Some details on the campaign:

The campaign advocates a “Yes”  vote on California Proposition 8, which touches on some potentially sensitive  issues related to familial values and marriage.  Specifically, a “Yes”  vote on Proposition 8 advocates a ban on gay marriage in California.

The campaign will run only in the  300×250 ad size and will feature a video similar to a political television  commercial.

The campaign is Geo-targeted  exclusively to the state of California.

The overall CA-only campaign CPM  is  $2.85 to you.
We are hoping to set this campaign live ASAP as it only runs until November 4th – election day.
To provide you with an opt-out/reject opportunity for this single campaign, Adify has rejected this campaign across our Network. It will appear in your rejected area, at which time you could choose to accept it. We’ve been assured by Adify that the ad WILL NOT automatically serve on your site.”  You can preview the video for this campaign in your Adify account as well.
Please let me know if you have any questions- feel free to call my cell phone listed below.
Have a nice weekend.

My Response:

I do not wish this advertisement or any like it to run on my site.  I believe that all people should have equal rights under the law and any law that discriminates on the basis of gender, age, race or sexual preference is both wrong and unconstitutional.  Further I find the advocacy for such a law personally abhorrent.  People should not be limited in their rights simply because other people don’t like their choices.  Whom a person chooses for their partner whether be it for sex or for life has no impact on others so why should those other people that are not impacted in any way have the right to make a determination about the rights of anyone else?

I personally think that Sarah Palin is an imbecile. I simply cannot imagine a country with her as its Vice President let alone its President.  In fact I think this would be enormously detrimental to all Americans in so many ways it is difficult to imagine, much less quantify in any rational way.  This however, is simply my opinion and I do not grudge others their own opinions even if it is different than mine.  Further, I don’t strive to limit the rights of those with a different opinion their opportunity to exercise their right to choose the candidate of their preference even though this choice will have much greater bearing on me and my life than anyone’s choice about whom they marry.

Why this is even a question boggles my mind.  What small minded fear-based bigoted self-righteous meddling moron would spend time, money, or waste the public’s limited attention span on something so totally inconsequential as limiting the rights of people that make different choices to choose whom they wish to lawfully engage in matrimony?  Don’t we have bigger problems than a couple of men or a couple of women choosing to live in a respectful and loving relationship?

This is a modern day witch hunt.  Make no mistake about it.  These same do-gooder right wing Christians are the exact same morons whom a century or two ago were the ones having witch hunts and burning blacks on crosses and before that they were the ones that were holding the inquisitioner’s hearings in Spain.

Shame on Forbes for even considering this ill-intentioned campaign and shame on any blogger whom either out of misguided beliefs or worse, simply for a few dollars would choose to display any of the rhetoric this group espouses.

Sincerely,

Oliver W Starr

Britain’s “The Sun” is reporting on some of the most amazing UFO footage recorded to date. From the Sun:

The 42-year-old and a number of residents claim the UFOs were spotted over a four month period between May and September near the compound in Istanbul.

He said: “I don’t know what these things are. We filmed them several times and they are totally unknown to us. I was very excited when I saw them and I want the world to know that UFOs do exist”.

Almost two-and-a-half hours of footage was filmed featuring a variety of objects ranging from incredible flying saucer-type ‘craft’ to clustering orb-like lights hovering in the night sky.

Genuine

The clips were handed to the Sirius UFO Space Science Research Centre in Turkey who interviewed witnesses and painstakingly combed through the footage frame by frame.

International UFO researcher Haktan Akdogan said: “In this amazing video footage, physical forms of UFOs and their metallic structures are clearly noticeable.

“What is more important is that in the close-up of some footage of the objects, entities in them can be distinctly made out.”

He continues: “We have spoken with all of the witnesses and had detailed analysis conducted on all two-and-a-half hours of footage.

“After conducting all of the analysis we came to the conclusion that this video footage is 100 per cent genuine.

“The objects filmed are structured objects and are not the result of misidentification or natural phenomena, aircraft or astronomical objects.

“They are not the results either of any kind of computer animation. Now is it a time for world governments to acknowledge the reality of UFOs.”

From what I can discern from the video, it appears that this craft is what Bob Lazar referred to as a “sport model” only even smaller.  In fact to me it looks all the world like a sports car cockpit with a clear bubble over the center space where it appears that there is something controlling the vehicle – pehaps the alien pilot??

I paused the video numerous times during the segments where this clear section is visible and it even appears that you can see some luminous controls on a dashboard.  I kid you not.

So, is this real or is it a well executed hoax?  So far the experts are proclaiming the footage to be genuine but we will have to see if it withstands future scrutiny.  If it is legitimate then it is clear that we are getting closer than ever to disclosure, either because it is the right thing to do or because the extraterrestrials are tired of waiting…